Exception
by amberpire
Summary: Why didn't this red-haired dunce get it? She's a bad person. She's mean and cruel. She's everything Cat isn't. ;Jade/Cat;


**AN:** _I do not own Victorious. I make no money writing this story. But you can send me money. Just kidding! Maybe. _

_It's short, but this has been sitting in my Documents for a while and I figured I might as well upload it here. Title inspired by Paramore's "The Only Exception". Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Jade knew she was going to break her. Just like she broke everyone else around her. That's just the way she worked, the way she functioned. Something nice was given to her and she destroyed it. She crushed it and burned it because that's just what Jade West does.

She hurts things - people - before they can hurt her.

Cat wasn't an exception to that rule.

But Cat was more resistant than most. When Jade pushed her away, she held on to her tighter. When Jade yelled in her face, Cat whispered back at her. When Jade told her she didn't need or want Cat in her life, Cat just smiled and shook her head and said, "You're lying."

It made Jade beyond frustrated. Why didn't this red-haired dunce get it? She's a bad person. She's mean and cruel. She's everything Cat isn't. Cat is open and kind and she loves all the right things - except for Jade, of course. Somewhere, Cat went wrong with that one. She sees something in Jade that Jade knows isn't there. Cat's trying to find some inner kindness in the dark girl and there isn't any, there's never been. But she keeps searching with her hands and her lips and that's the one thing Jade can't fight against: Cat touching her, kissing her.

Jade had always prided herself in her ability to resist people, to resist emotions and things like that. Cat was different, though. Jade didn't understand what it was that made her so _vulnerable _to the red-haired girl. She didn't know why she couldn't take her lips away when Cat started kissing her, how as soon as the girl was close enough there was no pushing her aside. Jade didn't know why those big brown eyes melted her the way they did. But it wasn't _fair_. It wasn't _normal_. Everyone else was afraid her - everyone acted out of fear - but Cat assured her that there was something nice in Jade and_ there wasn't_.

And it wasn't like Jade was some cold-hearted witch. She recycled. She _tried _to swerve when there was an animal in the road. But she was just one of those people that aren't built for relationships and feelings. She just ended up burning everything she touched anyway. And she didn't want to do that to Cat. She wanted Cat to realize how terrible she was before she went and fucked things up, before she broke her to the point that no one could fix her.

Maybe Jade West did have feelings, but those only feelings are bad ones. Fear. Resentment. Anger. She refused to let her guard down for anyone, even when they were nice and sincere. Even if they were Cat.

Especially if they were Cat.

Because Cat's such an easy target to destroy. She's a fluffy bunny and Jade's a hungry wolf and there's no question who is faster or stronger; the only question is if the bunny is smart enough to dive into a hole before the wolf decides it's going to be its next meal. It's not like Jade enjoys hurting them, it's not like she enjoys taking their hearts in her hands and tearing them to shreds. It just happens. It always happens.

And Cat's walking straight into a fire.

* * *

"You choose to be this way, you know."

Jade lifts her sulking eyes from the lake and glares at Cat. She never looks or stares or glances, she glares. She's angry that Cat insists on being with her all the time, on trying to make her feel things that will never be there. She's incapable of those kinds of emotions and she seems to be the only person that actually understands that. "What are you talking about?"

"You. The way you act. You choose to act that way."

Jade sits forward on the bench and continues to glare at her, arms crossed. Cat doesn't look at her, eyes focused on the lake, a sack of bread at her feet. She's tearing the rolls into pieces and throwing them at nearby ducks and other assorted birds. Jade hates birds. Jade hates everything. It's all pointless to her and yet Cat smiles and laughs as the ducks quack and swarm around the bread.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade says it without realizing that that's a very common Cat line, which only proves how much they've been hanging out. Well, how much Cat trails behind Jade's every move. It's not like Jade encourages her to do it - but she doesn't discourage her, either.

Cat notices the slip before Jade, flicking the brooding girl a bright smile. "It means," Cat continues, tossing another hunk of bread at the ducks on the water. "That you don't _have _to be so angry all the time." She turns to look at the dark-haired girl and Jade can find nothing but rainbows and lollipops in her eyes. Jade honestly doesn't understand how Cat can be like that, how she can be so fucking optimistic all the time.

Jade scoffs and leans back against the bench, letting her head fall back. She closes her eyes because she doesn't want to talk about this. She just wants Cat to take a hint and save herself before something really bad happens to her. "Whatever." The word comes out flat, angry, dismissive - she just wants Cat to go away. Leave her alone. Try to stop bringing forth emotions she wasn't designed to have.

"I mean it. You could be happy and nice if you let yourself."

"Not everyone can be as bubbly as you, Cat."

"That's not what I'm saying." She touches Jade's leg and it makes her jerk a little bit because no one really touches her like that but Cat. She doesn't move her hand as much as Jade wishes she would and the taller girl grumbles. "I'm just saying that you could be happy. The only one keeping you from being happy is you."

"You're not my mom or my therapist."

"No, but I love you, so I can say whatever I want." She flashes a smile, pats Jade's knee, and leans forward, planting a kiss on the other girl's cheek. The skin is warm when Cat pulls away. Jade cringes, grumbling again as she stands. She doesn't understand how Cat could love her; she is cold, and mean, and there is no kindness in her when that's all Cat was. It just wasn't fair. Maybe Cat would understand that some day, maybe she wouldn't. Jade thought she was being pretty straight-forward with what she wanted from Cat, which was nothing, but the ruby-haired girl either didn't understand was ignoring it.

"I'm going home." She starts stepping away and a part of her screams at her to not look over her shoulder, but a softer, more revealing part forced her too. It wasn't that Jade wanted Cat to follow her ... well, at least, she was trying very hard to convince herself that.

"I'm going with you." Cat stands as well, twirling and smiling. Her dress fluttered with the movement and Jade just stared at her. Cat hums, slipping her hand into Jade's. The dark-haired girl sighs in what seems to be annoyance, attempting to tug her hand back, only for Cat to force it firmly to her own side. "Oh, stop it, Jadey baby. You're not going to win."

"Cat." Jade huffs, black eyes focusing on the other girl and she tried to spew venom with her words but Cat was such a bunny, a defenseless, hopeful bunny and those eyes watched her with all of their wide innocence. And for once Jade stops herself, because Cat doesn't deserve any kind of brutality. So Jade sighs, readjusts her fingers wrapped around Cat's, and begins marching home.

Cat leans against Jade's side and Jade can't deny that it felt nice having someone that close, like someone gave a shit about her when she had always convinced herself it would be better if people just stayed away. She wasn't sociable, she wasn't nice, but Cat thought so, for whatever bizarre reason. And maybe it wasn't all that bad, Jade thought, letting someone in your walls. It was almost kind of invigorating, because she was Jade and everyone expected her to be mad all the time, everyone expected her to hate everyone and everything around her and maybe she could like Cat, just to spite them. Just to prove that there was more to her than people cared to see.

"Cat?" Jade keeps her eyes in front of her as they walk, her face carefully passive. Cars rumble past them and the sky above is swollen and gray. Jade could feel Cat looking up at her, her hand being squeezed as if trying to channel comfort through the touch.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you ..." Jade stops, her feet halting. It didn't seem to matter that they were in the middle of the sidewalk, people brushing past them. "How can you love me?" It was a question Jade could only barely manage to speak, but she had to know; she had to try and understand. Because Cat is the only person who looked at her like she is worth anything, that she is more than a sad girl with black eyes.

Cat just smiles at her before pushing herself on her tiptoes, her lips planting a soft kiss against Jade's cheek. A shaky breath leaves the taller, older girl, swallowing thickly at such a gentle, kind gesture. "Loving someone isn't hard to do," she says, raising their clasped hands. Jade's lips part in a silent gasp as Cat presses her own to the other girl's delicate knuckles. She tilts her head up, smiling at Jade. "One day, you'll love me back. I know it."

Cat drags her down the sidewalk then, fading off into a faint series of hums. And as much as Jade tried, she couldn't smother the smile that crept onto her features, her thoughts whispering to her: _I think I already do._

And maybe there is an exception to that rule, that Jade West breaks everyone around her. Just one._  
_


End file.
